The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-09-30

picture on my arm After considerable
persuasion he finally consented. 1t hurt,
but stood it bravey, and III the course of
two or three days had as fine Il work of
art on my arm rs old Nebs itself.
Dear me, unused the Major, chow time
flies. Old Neb has been dead for thirty odd
years. The slaves are free The plantation
belongs to one of them. ! believe. My
grandfather was killed in battle. and after
roaming all around the world, here am,
the only one left and the least worthy of the
lot. But wander from the subject.
| About ten years ago, after spending sew
eral months in old Mexico, | returned to
New York, where placed my silver mine
on the market. A number of Wall street
capitalists were very much interested III my
projects, and made up party to GO back
with me for pleasure trip in which there
might be some profit as we'll 1t was IN
November, the 1Stha date | never shall
| forget-that we camped in the valley
of Opedeke 1t was a beautiful night.
| The moon was never more brilliant,
| the air more clear or the wind more cool
| ing. We were laid on the grass after our
supper, talking over the mines we would ex-
anime farther up the rocky sides of the
| Sierra Madre on the morrow, until finally
we fell asleep | don't know how long we
| bad slept when we were awakened by the
sound of low voices. As we opened our
eyes we were confronted with flashing lights,
| and then we realized that we were i'll the
| hands of a band of hostile Aztec Indians.
| But we didn't know how securely we had
been captured until we tried TO move. We
| couldn't stir hand or foot. We had been
| bound with leather thongs in our sleep. We
were put on horseback, and under guard
marched up the valley.
1--WE must have ridden twenty miles up
| the steep and winding path when we turned
sharply to the east, and following a narrow
and almost invisible trail, we were soon
hidden in the thick chaparral. | don't
know how they managed to find their way
through it, but they did, and just as day
light dawned we found ourselves on wide
plain, surrounded on all sides by the high
peaks of the Sierra Madre. We had made
our entrance between two cliffs, and were
soon IN tho centre of the plaza. AS we
neared that point we could see the adobe
huts of the natives, and directly before the
largest of the houses was erected
tall altar OF white stone which CLEANED and
glistened in the purple light of the early
morning like shaft of polished marble.
| suppose the structure must have
been 80 feet high and nearly 20 feet square
at the apex, 1t was very much larger at its
base, and had steps leading up its sides to
the top. Above the altar there arose a
small column of smoke. We had arrived,
it appeared, in time to witness a very singu-
lar sight As the first rays of the sun
reached the altar, and not second before,
the entire population, including our cap
tors, Frustrated themselves on the earth
before the altar, and remained prone until
an old man, who [ afterward learned was
the chief, chanted weird song which was
not at all unmusical Directly he finished
they rose to their feet and gathered around
us to see who we were and what our mission
might be.
laft IxyO n
guard and retired within the large house l
spoke of, where they were joined by the
| chief and the elders of the tribe. Although
we could neither hear nor see them, we
knew that our fate was being discussed and
our lives depended on the result. We were
kept in suspense about an hour, when the
chief and his advisers filed out of the house
and marched over to us. Not a word was
spoken. The chief was our judge, and our
| sentence was pronounced by signs. You
have no idea how impressive it was.
almost lost my fear of the future in my adj
| miration of the picturesqueness of the
scene. By signs he signiied that we were
| then to be taken before the altar, stripped,
| tied to stakes, and as the sun went down in
| the west, we were to be burned alive
an Offering to their deity. Remonstrance
was useless so it was not even attempted.
| AS silently as our doom was told, we walked
| behind our guards to the place of execution.
| Six stakes had been driven into the ground,
one for each Of us, and party of boys and
women were returning from the village
bearing bundles of faggots which were to
| light us with their flames upon our last jour
| ney. In the same awful silence, first one
after another of our party was stripped of
his jacket and shirt, led to his stake and Sc
| curely fastened with his arms tied behind
| him, there to stand until the setting sun told
the hour of his death. A rather long day
ahead of us, l thought, and yet how
terribly short! / was the last TO be
stripped. As the chief cut away
| my sleeve the picture on my arm
was exposed. | had almost forgotten it
years ago. The moment he saw it he gave
a sudden start of surprise, his cheek paled,
and he fell to the ground at my feet. Then
he rose on his knees and lifted up his bands
to me as the figure ON my arm did to the
setting sun When he had finished his
alteration he motioned the meu of his tribe
to approach. They did so. and on seeing my
arm likewise fell on their faces and wor-
SHIPPED me. This was followed by another
consultation. / was reclothed in my gar
ments. My limbs were united and | was
lead away from the altar, given my horse
and gun, and Informed by signs that l was
| free.
Free to save my life and desert my com
rades. No. | preferred death to that dis
1
leave unless they left, too. This was denied
Then an idea occurred to me. l would give
my arm for their lives Pointing to that
sacred member, | motioned that | would
have 1t cut Off aid leave that with them in
return for my comrades lives. Another
consultation was held, and this time my
prayer was granted. A moment later was
lying on my back and the chief was hacking
! away ut the arm with n dull knife.
Il don't know how many weeks it was
before | regained my CONSCIOUSNESS. but |
was lying in the large house on bed of
wildcat and mountain lion skins Ny arm
was almost well, and | was surrounded by
my friends, who were well aud as happy as
prisoners could be under the circumstances.
1t only took few weeks for me 10 get back
my strength, and at last the day was set for
our departure. 1t was sunrise. We were
led out of the house, placed on our horses,
| glvei. swords, but no other weapons and
conducted away from the village. AS we
passed the sun altar our atteauon was di-
! rected to a singular object which stood erect
] aoovc the blazing fire, winch had not been
extingushed. so learned, in over 900
years. This object was my arm. II had
,een preserved so that its color was as life
like as when il filled my sleeve. The blue
! picture faced the plaza, and as the sun shone
over the mountain top the people Frustrated
| themselves before the token in mute adora-
] ton. We had seen enough. We rode silently
away and as the two cliffs closed behind us
| mud xye kaxy